Evoluon

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The Evoluon around 1991
The evoluon in miniature city ​​Madurodam

The Evoluon is a building designed by the architect Louis Christiaan Kalff in 1966 for the Philips company for its 75th anniversary in Eindhoven . It consists of a prestressed concrete structure 77 meters in diameter, the futuristic shape of which is reminiscent of an alien spaceship that landed in the city center

Use until 1989

The building was used as an educational technology museum from 1966 to 1989, attracted numerous visitors from the beginning and was also often the destination or part of tourist offers, such as B. the Dutch railways ( Nederlandse Spoorwegen ) but also German tour operators offered. The outstanding thing about this museum was that the visitors were able to carry out scientific (light) experiments themselves and were allowed to operate clear equipment. This kind of “hands-on” museum was still new at the time and particularly attracted students and other young people. Many schools organized a trip to Evoluon. In addition, there were no comparable technology museums in the Netherlands at the time. This changed in the following years, when the NINT opened in Amsterdam in 1978 with a similar concept, which was later integrated into the NEMO Museum , which was built in 1997 . As a result, the number of visitors to Evoluon fell continuously every year. The constant adaptation to new technical developments and the maintenance devoured a lot of money and one slipped into the red. Even the owner of the building was unable to provide support here, as Philips was in the process of economic restructuring measures and was already trying to maintain its own profitability by giving up individual business areas. Therefore, the group was not willing to invest any more money in the Evoluon and its loss-making operation. So, amid great protests, “the Evoluon finally closed its doors at the end of November [1989]”.

The Evoluon today

From 1993 to 1998 the Evoluon hosted an exhibition of Philips products. Various new buildings were also built on the surrounding area and the Evoluon complex has been a conference and event center since 1996 .

Since 2004, the private foundation “Vrienden van het Evoluon” (Friends of Evoluon) has been making efforts to restore the Evoluon to its original function as “an icon for technology and innovation”.

In 2012, Philips began using the building for short-term, scientific exhibitions. An exhibition on the human brain in collaboration with the Discovery Center Continuum in Kerkrade began. Further events will follow in cooperation with Continium as well as with NEMO and Technopolis in Mechelen, Belgium .

In October 2013 the German band Kraftwerk gave four 3D concerts in the Evoluon, each with an audience of 1200. The room was personally selected by Kraftwerk founder Ralf Hütter because of the retro-futuristic appearance of the building and the relationship with Philips.

In autumn 2014, the successful quiz show “SlimmerIQen” (1.1 million viewers) on the Dutch private broadcaster RTL4 was recorded on Evoluon.

In 2018, 52 years after its construction, the Evoluon with the number 532277 was added to the list of Rijksmonumente .

Web links

Commons : Evoluon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A. Schouten van der Velden: Vgende schotel boordevol techniek en wetenschap. In: digibron.nl. November 8, 1989, accessed March 27, 2018 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ Website of the "Vrienden van het Evoluon"
  3. ↑ SlimmerIQen trapt af met ruim 1,1 miljoen kijkers In: radio.nl , accessed on March 27, 2018.
  4. ↑ Rijksmonument No. 532277

Coordinates: 51 ° 26 ′ 37 ″  N , 5 ° 26 ′ 49 ″  E